9 lbs. 4 oz!

Brothers hangin out

Naptime!

No, this isn't some type of cruel punishment, it's Kale getting a EKG.

Hmmm where to begin!

Kale has been eating much better and his weight is up to 9 lbs. 4 oz!! So he gained 4 oz. in a matter of 4 days. What a stud! Thanks for the suggestions on how to make his belly feel better, we bought some gripe water and plan to use it soon, hopefully it will help!

Last week Kale had a cardiology appointment and it went pretty well. He had a EKG and his HR was around 95 which is higher than it has been. The electrophysiologist from Iowa City met with us for a while and evaluated Kale. He said he was pretty sure that Kale will need a pacemaker at some point in his life because as he continues to grow and get bigger his HR will continue to decrease and at some point it will probably just be too low. He said the goal is to wait until he is at least 30 lbs. so then they can put it in his chest and not in his stomach. but he said at this point he was happy with how he was doing and said we don't need to start talking pacemaker unless he isn't gaining weight and/or his HR is consistently between 50-55. Tomorrow I'm taking him back to the cardiologist so he can have a monitor put on for 24 hrs to monitor his HR and trends. This will give the cardiologist a bigger snapshot in time to go off of.

Kale has another nursing visit, a PT visit and an eye exam this week. He is quite the popular baby! I'm definitely getting used to having appointments all the time and am starting to figure out the best ways to get him out and about with all of his equipment.

This past week Kale got to meet his cousin, Jordan!! I will post some pictures when Sarah sends them to me, I didn't get to see the first meeting because they came through town when I was at work Sunday. It sounded like Jordan enjoyed meeting his cousin and was very well behaved :) My Aunt Jean has been here since last Wednesday and has been a huge help around the house and with Kale. It's great to have the help!

We also got to go back to Mercy for a nutritionist appointment for Kale and we of course made a stop upstairs to the 4th floor to see all of Kale's NICU nurse friends! It was great to see everyone that took such great care of him for so long. They enjoyed seeing how he was doing and were impressed that Derc has been involved in changing poopy diapers :)

Last week my Aunt Jean and I went back to Cedar Rapids on Thursday to spend the day with my sister. It would have been my dad's 52nd birthday, so we went out to the cemetery and spent some time at his site. It was nice to spend the day with family and remember so many of the good times we had with my Dad. I miss him every day but I know that Kale has had his own guardian angel from Day 1 watching over him!

That's about all for now, we'll keep you posted on how his appointments go this week!!